According to press reports, JPMorgan Chase, the U.S. bank used by Bernard Madoff who masterminded the biggest fraud on record, has agreed to pay about $2.0 billion to U.S. authorities to avoid litigation.

Both the Wall Street Journal and New York Times reported the bank had agreed to settle to close criminal and civil investigations by federal authorities that suspected that the bank had ignored signs that Madoff was operating a fraudulent scheme.

At the time of its collapse in 2008, Madoff Securities claimed it had about $65 billion in client assets, whereas in fact it had only about $300 million.

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